Cold
by fearlessgoddess2
Summary: Sam and Dean go hiking, looking for a family that might be lost in the woods. One-shot. Reviews are like chocolate!


**I read a fic a while back, can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what it was called, but the main premise was that Sam helped save a girl when her parents were killed and when Child Protective Services came to get her she just didn't want to leave Sam. I decided I wanted to do a story kind of like that, but since it's been a while since I read that one, I figured I won't copy too much of it cause I really don't remember much. :) Enjoy!**

**Cold**

_They could be dead by morning._

That was what the two Winchester boys realized, neither speaking the words aloud but both knowing that it was true. That was why they were out hiking, after dark, frost icing slightly on the trees in the cold Wisconsin weather, flashlights flickering around. That was why, even though there was always the chance the Newman family had just forgotten about returning the backpacks they'd borrowed from the park rangers at the front office after a long day of hiking, the boys kept walking.

That, and the fact that they got to Rochester, Wisconsin after dark, before they could have some confidence that anyone who, for some weird reason, managed to get lost following the ghost lights during the day would be able to find their way back. The ghost lights that came out every year on March 24th.

_"They probably just forgot to return the backpacks," the ranger told them. "Happens pretty often. You're out hiking all day, you're tired, or Hell, they mighta just said, screw it, we'll return 'em tomorrow."_

_"You said they aren't answering their home phone," Sam said._

_"They could be out to dinner, kid. Or at a grandparent's house. Or any of a million other places."_

_"But they could still be out there," Sam said pointedly, quite proud of the lack of anger in his voice despite the ranger's apparent non-interest._

_"Look, boys, they were prepared," he said, his own voice slightly tinged with anger. "They had food, water, and extra layers to keep warm, plus an electric blanket. They had a satellite cell phone with GPS to tell them exactly where they are, fully charged. Not to mention that they had walkie talkies and they know the frequency we use here if they needed help. And I know the Newmans. Jack and Margret are smart people who've taken the safety course for hiking. And they're fully capable of taking care of Lisa. Now there is no reason I can possibly think of that I should send out a search party, which I really don't have the juice to wrangle up myself, by the way, to go looking for a man, woman, and daughter that went hiking and forgot to return their backpacks. Unless there's something I'm missing?"_

_Sam sighed and shook his head. "No." At that, he turned and left, Dean close on his heels. "No, of course not," he murmured. "Not unless you count a spirit that can render anything electronic useless." He walked over to the car and Dean stopped a few feet away, silent for a few seconds._

_"We're going hiking, aren't we?" Dean asked quietly._

_"It's a good thing we didn't burn those bones yet," Sam told him, turning back to his brother. "Chances are the lights'll lead us the same direction it took the Newmans."_

And that is how Sam and Dean ended up hiking through a forest at night that couldn't have been more than 32Fahrenheit. They had normal hiking supplies and, even though the ghost lights had never gotten aggressive or escalated into anything else, the boys had hunting supplies with them as well, of course.

But unlike the Newmans, the Winchesters were not counting on being able to radio for help, use an electric blanket, or have a GPS that told them where they are or what direction to go. The two counted on being well-trained by their father the Marine and knowing where they were going and how to get back.

Sam stopped in his tracks. "Dean," he snapped.

Dean came to a halt as well, looking to his brother and following his gaze, spotting some lights up ahead. "I'll be damned," he sighed.

Adjusting their course toward the lights, the two young men continued to use their flashlights to search for any signs of people nearby. About half an hour later, getting no closer to the lights, though they hadn't expected otherwise, the two flashlights flickered out. Instantly, Dean put it back in his jacket pocket and took out the shotgun that had been sticking out of the top of his pack, nodding to Sam through the darkness to keep moving toward the lights.

A few minutes soon after, Dean barked out, "Sam!" Sam followed his brother's gaze and saw a lump of blankets and coats. "Hey! Anyone here?" Dean called out as he picked up his pace. The two walked quickly over to them, putting their packs down as they reached them.

"Hey," Dean said loudly again, crouching down, dropping his shotgun. Pulling back the blanket that covered them, Dean pulled in a sharp breath at the three people curled up together. "Damnit," he hissed. He checked for the father's pulse and grimaced at the lack of one. Sam checked the mother and they looked to each other in despair. Sam pulled back the mother's cold body, swallowing hard, and pulled back the six-year-old girl's hood.

Sam's eyes widened. "Dean, she's shivering!" he cried.

Dean darted around to Sam as he unzipped his jacket and pulled back the blanket covering her, gently picking her up. Still shivering, she instinctively curled into the warm body as Sam supported her and Dean zipped up Sam's jacket around her. "Lisa, can you hear me?" Sam asked. Lisa continued to shiver, her eyes closed.

Dean checked on his own phone, letting out an annoyed breath at the lack of battery. "Let me check your phone," Dean said.

"Left jean pocket," Sam replied.

Dean dug out his brother's phone and shook his head. "No good." He went into the larger pack that was sitting against a tree, most likely the father's, and found the walkie talkies. Turning the knob of one to turn it on with a _click_, he let out another sigh as nothing happened. "Nothing. Not that that's surprising. We've gotta go back with the girl. We aren't going to do anything for her parents and we can't drag everyone back with us."

"I know," Sam said quietly, knowing that half the reason Dean spoke was to convince himself.

"I got your pack," Dean told him, grabbing his shotgun and then getting his brother's bag.

"You sure?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded and motioned to him. "Let's go."

Walking quickly back the way they came, both hunters paying close attention to their surroundings, Sam dropped his eyes to the girl in his arms, double-checking that she was still shivering and the air frosted from her breath. About twenty minutes into their trek back, Lisa let out a small cough and Sam's eyes dropped to hers. She stared back at him, her eyes blinking slowly.

"Dean, she's conscious," he told his brother.

"Good," Dean said, glancing to him as they continued forward. "Talk to her. Keep her awake."

Sam nodded in agreement, looking back to the girl, glancing back to his path every few seconds to make sure he didn't trip. "Hey, Lisa, my name's Sam. You're going to be okay. I need you to stay awake for me, okay?"

"S-Sam?" she stammered.

"Yea, my name's Sam."

"C-C-Cold," she whispered.

"I know," he told her. "But you're shivering. That's good. It'll help you warm up."

Sam saw her try to swallow. "M-Mom-m-my?" she stuttered. "D-Dad-d-dy?"

Sam's face tightened. "You're okay, Lisa," he repeated. "We're going to get you to a hospital."

Lisa's face contorted just enough to be noticeable to Sam. "M-Mom?" she forced out again. Sam looked away, knowing that he couldn't keep the despair out of his eyes. "S-Sam," she said, her voice laced with frustration and worry. "D-Dad?"

Sam forced his eyes back to hers. The quote echoed through his mind, _"You aren't dead until you're warm and dead."_ He knew that, even if the pulse he and Dean hadn't been able to detect was just very, very shallow, even if they could still be revived, by being unable to connect with anyone to send for help, abandoning them for the long hike back gave them no chance of survival.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Lisa suddenly looked so much more exhausted, and Sam knew that tears would come later, when she wasn't too tired to cry. Her eyes slowly closed. When they didn't open for a few seconds, Sam spoke. "Lisa, I need you to stay awake," he told her. "Please."

At her name, Lisa's eyes fluttered back open. Sam continued to talk, keeping her awake, digging into his memory to come up with old, lame jokes he used to tell Dean as a kid.

_How do you make a tissue dance?_

_Put a little boggie in it!_

_What's red and flies and wobbles at the same time?_

_A jelly-copter!_

_What do you call a bee that's always complaining?_

_A grumble bee!_

After a while, Sam spotted the lights in the small cabin that housed the park's office and two rangers on duty. Finally reaching it, about two hours after they had left, Dean held the door open for Sam to walk back in. "We need some help!" he called.

Not wanting to do anything more than warm Lisa with Sam's body heat in fear of sending her into shock, the rangers called for an ambulance and waited until it arrived. Dean explained to them what had happened, being unable to contact them to send help. Knowing that Lisa's parents were probably as good as dead, but Lisa stood a chance. Dean gave as much detail to them as to where Lisa's parents were and they immediately made some calls to send out a rescue team, but they knew the chances of them being alive were virtually non-existent.

When the ambulance got there, Lisa refused to let go of Sam's shirt, the safety his warm body had provided for her, her fingers intertwined in the worn fabric. With a glance to his brother that was full of meaning, Dean nodded back with a shadow of a smile. "I'll follow," he told him, taking out the keys to the Impala.

Getting back into the ambulance, Sam explained to Lisa that he wasn't going anywhere, but he needed to put her down to let the EMT's check her out along the way. Lisa's fingers slowly let go of Sam's shirt and he put her down on the gurney in the ambulance. Sam gently held her small hand in his and she clutched back tightly.

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the hospital. Not leaving the young girl's side, Sam stood by the hospital bed, holding her hand, as they checked her out. Sam was told that Lisa was re-warming properly and that she should be fine. They'd found her before hypothermia had had time to set in, so they'd keep her for an hour hooked up to an IV for observation and then she could go home.

At the last part, Sam swallowed and nodded to the doctor, who left the room just as Dean came in. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"She should be fine," Sam said quietly, looking back to Lisa, who was lying in the bed still clutching three of Sam's fingers. After she'd warmed enough to stop shivering and woken up a bit more, she'd started crying, so her eyes were now red and weary.

Dean hesitated before he nodded. "Good," he murmured.

After an explanation to the rangers that, well, just look, they couldn't leave since Lisa's hand was attached to Sam's, they nodded and the appropriate phone calls were made. It turned out that Lisa had little family; a grandmother that lived in Massachusetts on her father's side, a grandfather living in an old age home in Florida from her mother's side, and an aunt currently somewhere between Italy and France on a backpacking trip.

They were able to contact the grandmother that lived in Massachusetts, but she couldn't get a plane in until the next day. So Social Services was called and arrangements were made for her to stay with a temp family overnight. Time seemed to blur by in Sam's eyes and before he knew it there was a woman dressed business-casual standing in the doorway.

"This is Lisa Newman?" she spoke up.

Sam's gaze darted to her in surprise, not having noticed her standing there. Dean, who had been the one aware of their surroundings, stood up and walked over. "Dean Brandon. This is my brother Sam."

She shook his hand. "Maggie Brent. I'm with Social Services. I was informed of what's been going on. I'm here to pick up Lisa."

Dean nodded with a sigh, looking over to his brother as he stuck his hands in his pockets. Sam looked to Lisa, who was sleeping peacefully, though she still clutched his hand tightly. He swallowed, feeling a gently tightening in his chest. "Lisa?" he asked, standing up. "Time to wake up."

Lisa shifted and her eyes slowly opened, narrowing a bit for a moment before she gauged her surroundings, and settled on Sam. "Hi," she murmured.

Sam smiled. "Hi." He looked over to Ms. Brent for a moment. "This is Maggie. She's going to bring you somewhere to stay tonight until your grandmother gets here tomorrow."

Lisa's eyes widened and she looked to the strange new woman in the room, her grasp on Sam's hand tightening. "But I don't wanna," she whimpered, her eyes looking back to Sam's. "I wanna go home."

"Lisa," Sam began gently, "I'm sorry, but you can't go home tonight. I think you know that."

"Then I wanna stay with you," she whispered, her voice slowly edging toward a sob, tears slowly emerging on her eyelids.

Sam let out a shaky, silent breath and nodded. "I know," he whispered. "But you can't."

"Why not?" she asked.

Sam swallowed, understanding the mentality of a six-year-old, the sheer crappiness of the situation feeling like someone was squeezing his heart in his chest. This was the young man that had kept her safe. He'd saved her life, shared his warmth when she was cold, told her stupid jokes to keep her awake and smiling. It made sense that he was a good person to take care of her, right?

"I need to leave," he said quietly. "My brother and I have work to do. We need to get going." Sam left out the part of them rushing off to the nearby cemetery to dig up and torch a corpse.

"But…" Lisa started, seemingly unsure of where to progress from there.

"Your grandmother will be here tomorrow," Sam told her. "Thing's will be okay. You'll see."

"But she eats oatmeal and smells funny," Lisa said in despair.

If the expression on Lisa's face hadn't been so despondent, Sam probably would have let out a small laugh at the desperate plea. As it was, he let out another soft sigh. "Lisa, I can't stay. I have to go. Now, you can give me a hug good-bye, okay?" He leaned down and took the small girl in his arms in a gentle hug and her small arms wrapped around his neck as she sniffled. After a few seconds, Sam pulled away, surprising Lisa with the suddenness at which he turned and left the room once he was out of her grasp, unable to give Lisa time to reconsider and grab onto him again, brushing past the woman in the doorway.

Dean gave a tight smile to the woman as he went after his brother. He didn't say anything as they walked out of the hospital and out to the car. Dean turned the key in the ignition and pulled out onto the road, recalling where he was and how to get to the cemetery. He knew Sam would talk when he wanted to.

And after about ten minutes of tight silence in the car and Dean pretending not to notice when Sam wiped tears from his eyes, Sam spoke up. "It's just hard with kids, you know?" he asked, staring out the window.

Dean looked back to Sam and then returned his gaze to the road ahead. "Yea. Yea, I know."

It was only because of the impromptu hiking for miles and the grave digging at two in the morning that Sam was able to fall asleep once they finally got to a motel, got a room, and crashed.


End file.
